wintermute, there should be a comma after the very first word in that post -- Yep.
Speaking of pronouncing words directly as they are spelled -- so called phonetic languages (where each letter maps to a non-context dependent phoneme) -- my native language of Bulgarian is 100% like that. This makes spelling and pronouncing non-issues. However, English has a simpler grammar, and overall I find it's the best of languages (though French is better for phone sex, and German makes for a better opera singing language, despite its horrible sound as a spoken language).
Speaking of pronouncing words directly as they are spelled -- so called phonetic languages (where each letter maps to a non-context dependent phoneme) -- my native language of Bulgarian is 100% like that. This makes spelling and pronouncing non-issues. However, English has a simpler grammar, and overall I find it's the best of languages (though French is better for phone sex, and German makes for a better opera singing language, despite its horrible sound as a spoken language).
Thanks Prune 
looking back at the post I hadn't even noticed until now that I had used Yep!!! hardly a proper word and not a particularly good way to start a sentence!
Wo ming bai Audiousername another example of intonation making a difference in Chinese would be "I would like to meet your sister" changing to "I would like to meet your n!pples "
or calling someones mother a horse
BTW I'm typing this on a machine with no access to spell check so sorry to anyone if there are heaps of typos/errors!
Tony.
looking back at the post I hadn't even noticed until now that I had used Yep!!! hardly a proper word and not a particularly good way to start a sentence! Wo ming bai Audiousername
another example of intonation making a difference in Chinese would be "I would like to meet your sister" changing to "I would like to meet your n!pples " or calling someones mother a horse
BTW I'm typing this on a machine with no access to spell check so sorry to anyone if there are heaps of typos/errors!
Tony.
Prune said:
Ah yes, one of my favourite oxymorons.
Chinese: Gung hay fat choy
Which means "I want to meet your sister's n!pples while your mother's riding a horse"
or something like that.
Happy new year to all you chinese DIYers.
Here at one of our universities, they could find only one person to carry the flag and attend the Robbie Burns day birthday celebration so they combined it with the Chinese new year and called it Gung Haggis Fat Choy.
This is true, it happens every year and is televised. It's pretty funny watching the little chinese girls dancing to gaelic music and watching the Scots eat haggis with chopsticks. I'm not sure the traditionalists are on board but it is highly entertaining nonetheless.
Cal
Cal Weldon said:
wonders whether Cal has been sniffing C37
Having started to learn some Chinese, I now understand why Chinese people learning English make the sort of mistakes they do!
Chinese although very difficult (at least for me) to learn, is in some respects simpler than English.
Tony.
PS. the word whether is another example of a "problem" word in English. Just to confuse non native (and no doubt native) speakers we can throw in wether and weather. All have completely different meanings but all are pronounced the same way
If you mean "whether" and "weather," there actually is supposed to be a small difference in the pronunciation, the former taking an aspirant "w." But it's a distinction most often honored in the breach.
I tried to learn Cantonese. It is a language of nine tones, seven of which sound the same to me.
I tried to learn Cantonese. It is a language of nine tones, seven of which sound the same to me.
I’m not sure if it is Cantonese or Mandarin, but my GF says it means "Have a prosperous year" .....
I think Cal was having a bit of fun with the examples I gave earlier
IMO the whole dialect thing is amazing; even more amazing is that the written form is the same everywhere, it is just the pronunciation that is different (to the point of being unintelligible to people with a different dialect)!
Tony.
I think Cal was having a bit of fun with the examples I gave earlier
IMO the whole dialect thing is amazing; even more amazing is that the written form is the same everywhere, it is just the pronunciation that is different (to the point of being unintelligible to people with a different dialect)!
Tony.
Yep, it's a real difficult language to learn. When I was in China, I was offered a very large amount of food (it's tradition to treat guests well). While I was trying to say the food should be shared, I apparently said that everyone should eat faeces...
Suffice to say there were red faces all around. It was a long time before I tried to use my Chinese again
Suffice to say there were red faces all around. It was a long time before I tried to use my Chinese again
pinkmouse said:That's because you speak Canadian!
Al,
Speaking on behalf of one of the beloved colonies, you'll note that our two Englishes are virtually the same. Now, if you said the people to south spoke American, that would make more sense.
Your trusted servant in the colony of Kanata. (aboriginal spelling)
Cal
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